Ning-bo, located in
southeast China, is known for its skillful sculptors. Wang Tai-sang, a
Buddha-image maker, comes from Ning-bo. That's why the Buddha images he created
are so well-adorned and wonderful to behold. Now Mr. Wang is coming to America
and he is planning to pass on the art of making Buddha images to the western
world. Given this good opportunity, many people will have a chance to learn the
skill and make many Buddha images in the future.

Buddha images are the
host of all Dharma images. In the Proper Dharma age, images are not really
necessary. However, as the karmic obstructions of beings get heavier, the Dharma
Image age emerges. During that period, images become indispensable. The decline
of the Dharma Image age will cause descent into the Dharma Ending age.

Currently we are
maintaining the Proper Dharma age. Although there are Dharma images, they are
not essential. Why? It is partly because most people in the West do not
recognize them. Many people have heard about the Buddha religion, but few people
have ever seen a Buddha image. So even though we have Dharma images here, they
are not widely known to people in general. In that way, we can be considered to
be in the Proper Dharma age.

People who investigate
the Proper Dharma do not attach to any form or image. But ordinary beings will
feel lost and empty if they are not provided certain forms to rely on. A verse
says this well:

If we are attached to
appearances, then we are going to wrong direction;But if we never try anything at allwe will never go anywhere.

Beings are such that if
something has not appearance and is devoid of form, they will think there's
nothing there at all. There isn't a tangible substance for them to rely on. And
so when it comes to the Dharma Image age, people are exhorted to make Buddha
images.

The first Buddha image
was made during the time of King Ashoka's reign. At that time the Buddha once
ascended to the heavens to speak Dharma and his disciples missed him very much.
They missed him so badly that they decided to make an image of the Buddha. They
tried to make one, but it didn't look like the Buddha; they tried to make
another one, but it still didn't look like the Buddha. They made a lot of
images, but none of them resembled the Buddha. That happened because when the
sculptor tried to look at the Buddha, his eyes couldn't open. He was blinded by
the Buddha's dazzling light. Thus, he was unable to copy the exact features of
the Buddha. Later on, the disciples asked the Buddha to be compassionate and sit
by the seashore, so his body would be reflected.